Lessons on Success from Peter Levin

My interview took place on the one-year anniversary of Peter Levin’s heart transplant, and “heart” was what I thought of from the time of our first interchange. In this article, I describe what I learned from him about making it in the music business, and more importantly, what it means to be a musician.

Peter Levin has an impressive musical vita. Not only does he have a successful solo career and a nationally touring band of his own, but he is also a member of The Blind Boys of Alabama and was in the Gregg Allman Band until Gregg’s passing. He has played with a myriad of other well-known musicians, including Amanda Shires, Aaron Neville, Allen Toussaint, and Aretha Franklin. Add to that a recent Grammy nomination, and you have a musician who has found his groove, literally and metaphorically, achieving a level of success that most musicians only dream of.

Peter knew from an early age that music was his calling. Even as he explored other instruments, the piano became his primary focus in honor of his late pianist mother. For 25 years he toured the world with lesser-known bands, did studio sessions, and worked in divergent genres that included hip hop and jam bands. At the same time, he honed his skills on the Hammond organ, developing a uniquely bluesy, R & B gospel style.

This niche opened up opportunities to play with The Blind Boys of Alabama, a group of which he has been a part since 2008.

I wasn’t a traditional gospel player, and they wanted someone with a newer take on it  - what Ricky McKinney [of BBA] called “a little bit of bar room”. It was an incredible experience. How could I describe it? The way the crowd responded to them was something I have never seen before. I’ve come close but this was just amazing.

The Blind Boys began to call him “Church Boy,” possibly because of his gospel style but also maybe because he was so open to learning about who they were and to augmenting what they were all about.

You come in there thinking you know all this stuff and you’ve got a singer and horn player and you learn fast. BBA would let you know if what you were doing wasn’t happening - they’d let you know. I was never offended – with them, never. It was impossible because whatever they would tell me would only make the music better.

I’d gone to music school. but I really learned a lot from them. During sound checks they would tell me little things like how to improve my voicings or get a little more how they were hearing it, the proper way to do a gospel drive. I just do everything to provide a backdrop for their vocals, you know? And when all those things were in tune, all those things were humming, when their vocals would lock in with these harmonies? Tapping into that was like the most beautiful side of nature, you know. It was an amazing experience.. They’re family at this point.

His good ear, unique sound, and willingness to learn helped in developing his style and opened up opportunities to play with other prominent musicians:

Through the Blind Boys, I got to play with some of the legends of American music history. You know, we played with Aretha Franklin and Alan Toussaint -side-by-side with him at the piano- and with Aaron Neville. The experience with them was, oh, the experience with them was just unbelievable. It was great.

And whomever the bandmates, Peter learned to continue to focus on supporting the song and the vocalists.

After the guys are singing for an hour 70 minutes end of night stage is loud and people are getting tired I’d put my voicings the top part to help the singers out, most of the gigs I do at some point I’m putting the melody in the top part of my voicing, like the way the melody how it intertwines with it – more like call and response or weaving around to embellish it. I’ll play it with the singer to sort of help the singer out if they are drifting from pitch a little bit , all stems from appreciating the melody and not overstepping it with big chord voicings and embellishing riffs that have nothing to do with the song.

Gregg Allman was somebody whom Peter had always wanted to play with, and he finally realized his dream of being on stage with Gregg in 2013.

I really loved that band and I always thought in the back of my head that I would play with them. I started manifesting that in my 20’s and flash forward 20-some-odd years, and I was touring with the BBOA, and a buddy called to say that Gregg was looking for a keyboard player and had an audition with the band. I sent it to him, and Gregg loved my playing. Warren asked me to sit in as part of the Blind Boys at the Beacon Theater. BBOA was singing across town at Carnegie Hall for a Prince tribute, and came to the Beacon afterwards, in time to start the Second set. That night was the first time I had played with Gregg on stage. A few months later, after hearing my audition tape with the Gregg Allman Band, Gregg asked me to join his band full time.The first couple of times on stage I would shut my eyes, and I would think, “I can’t believe I’m on stage with this guy!” He was an idol, and it was unbelievable that after all these years I got to play with them. 

Both experiences helped to influence his own creative voice, captured in the title and tone of his most recent album Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

There is a gospel premise behind title and vibe, playing that kind of style, and that was definitely getting incorporated. “Saturday night” was Gregg and “Sunday morning” was The Blind Boys.

In songs like Along the Way and Peace and Understanding, a variety of styles support lyrics with the common message of love and trusting that things will work out okay,. Characteristically, he kept his own abilities quiet on the album:

I kept it in reserve, and wanted to feature the songs and the guests, Jack Pearson, the Blind Boys, and Spooner Oldham.That's another thing I kind of learned from the Boys and Gregg, as well, is that you know, at the end of the day, it's really about the song.

The Message, a song he co-wrote and co-produced for the Blind Boys of Alabama and Black Violin, and currently a contender for a Grammy, includes a reminder that, while keeping the faith is important, we also need to take action. Marcus King joins Peter and the Blind Boys of Alabama/Black Violin to create a powerful anthem about how it is up to us to work together to solve the wrongs we see around us:

After my heart transplant, I definitely think about the world and life and what's meaningful a little bit differently, you know? The writing side is definitely still positive, you know, still a positive vibe, but I also sort of have an appreciation for a little bit darker side, because it was tough stuff to go through…The positivity of the message and the words I got from the Blind Boys. So many folks making dark music, dark lyrics, dark sounds, dark this, dark that not that I was consciously going for something different, more positive in my music – sound wise and message wise.

Behind the story of The Message is a message for musicians: it’s not about you.  It’s about the music itself, about using your talents in collaboration with others to sustain the beat of our lives, to call us to action, and to reflect it all back to us as something beautiful and meaningful.

Achieving excellence on your instrument, carving out a unique niche, continually learning and listening, networking with and supporting others, and being thankful every day that you get to do what you were put on the earth to do are all aspects to Peter’s success:

I‘ve got a second shot and second chance at life with my new heart. I’ve playing and performing in the business for 35 years, and I’ve been very fortunate, have gotten to play with lots of my idols. I’ve been very fortunate to continue on my path.